Light Me Up, Love Me Down
by fumioo
Summary: My entry for the 30 day OTP challenge for asanoya (Asahi Nishinoya). Rating will be updated as chapters get published.
1. It's Easier When The Walls are Red

**Author's notes** : ah hey i haven't been writing for almost 2 years? I've been abandoning the jeanmarco fic, and I'm sorry. I'll continue it when i feel like I'm in the mood (sounds selfish, I'm sorry). I decided to do a 30 day otp challenge with asanoya (Asahi+Nishinoya from Haikyuu!, I've recently fallen into haikyuu! hell i have no regrets. ok. maybe a little. or a lot. idk.). I might do one for jeanmarco too, but, eh, who knows. Title comes from Namie Amuro's song, Golden Touch (i recommend you to listen to it! It's really good!).

* * *

It was Asahi's first time going back into the court, and he was nervous. Very nervous (and Datekou's ace targetting him was a huge contribution to it).

He felt sick, like something had decided to rearrange the insides of his stomach. _Maybe i shouldn't have come here_ , he thought. _I'd be useless._ His mind kept chanting on how it was a bad idea to rejoin the team, and Asahi tried to control his breathing (when did his breathing became slightly erratic?). He tried imagining something else worse than it; like the time his dog died, the time he didn't pass his English test, the look on Noya's face when he—-

Asahi felt lightheaded, and he didn't realize he walked a little wobbly until he felt Daichi's hand on his back.

"Asahi, calm down, okay?", the captain shot Asahi a reassuring smile. Asahi prompted a firm 'yes' that would convince the captain, but what came out was a whimper of "Uh, um, y-yeah...", accompanied with a nervous smile. Daichi still had this worried look on his face (he definitely knew what was up). Asahi looked away from Daichi's piercing gaze, paying attention to his fidgeting hands instead.

"We got your back. You're not alone in the court, Asahi.", continued the captain, emphasizing his sentence with a firmer grip on the ace's shoulder. Asahi quickly nodded, and Daichi walked over to Suga's side, asking him something about Kageyama and Hinata's quick sets.

Despite Daichi's attempts reassure Asahi, Asahi was still very worried. He chewed on his bottom lip, and looked around him. Coach Ukai was busy talking to Teacher Takeda about some strategies for today's match, with Shimizu hovering next to the two. Kageyama was explaining about types of sets to Hinata (and failing at it horribly, considering the amount of times Hinata yelped and the amount of the word 'dumbass!' came out of the setter's mouth). Tanaka and Noya was busy debating on which flavor of soda was the best (in his heart, Asahi silently agreed with Tanaka that cherry is definitely the best). The others seemed to be doing their own things, so it wouldn't be a problem if he disappeared for a moment, right?

"I need to go to the restroom.", he blurted out meekly, quickly darting to the left hallway towards the restroom. He walked as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion (not that his 'wild' appearance didn't already attract any). When he got to the restroom, he quickly splashed his face with cold water. He looked at the mirror, looked at himself.

Thousands, _millions_ , sickening thoughts of him failing again was swimming around in his head. His legs felt like jelly, he had to hold onto the basin for support. The running water was white noise, he felt like his breathing was getting even worse, the negative thoughts poisoning his mind and sipping through his veins. His heart was racing, blood pumping _so loud_ in his ears. In the midst of his attack, he remembered the breathing technique Coach Ukai had taught him.

 _"One single long breath in, hold it, then let two out; fast."_

Asahi could feel sweat dripping down his forehead, his palms letting out cold sweat. He took a deep breath, looked at himself in the mirror. _They have my back_., he thought to himself (tried to _convinced_ himself, is probably a better word for it). He held it, but not for long, those thoughts came creeping back from where he tried to buried it deep. His breathing was erratic once more, vision unfocused. He felt the familiar sting on the back of his eyes. He felt like he could combust in any given moment.

"What the hell are you doing?"

It took Asahi a few seconds for his clouded mind to process the sentence, before he could finally being able to place it. Asahi didn't dare to look toward the source of the voice, keeping himself completely still.

"I know you heard me.", continued Nishinoya; a little bit louder, Asahi noticed. Nishinoya walked over next to Asahi, turned off the sink before looking up at him, "Don't be such a crybaby.". Nishinoya jabbed his index finger onto Asahi's stomach, and Asahi yelped. "I'm - I'm not crying!", retorted Asahi quickly, followed by another yelp slipping out from his mouth due to the increased pressure of Nishinoya's fingers.

"Don't lie to me, you always do this.", Nishinoya sighed before putting on his usual grin. Asahi averted his gaze to one of the empty stalls, distracting himself with the thought of who wrote 'Oikawa = d1ck' on one of the doors.

"Hey.", the libero said, shaking Asahi from his reverie. He held both of Asahi's shaky hands. "I'm the libero, so I'd naturally feel bad if someone forgets about me.", he grinned up at Asahi, and goddammit, Nishinoya's grin was _infectious_. "It's my job anyway, and i gotta look cool doing it! So if any of your spikes doesn't go through, you can always count on me!", the smaller boy rattled on. "Well, there _are_ Daichi and the others, but I'm the man for it!", he cheered on, leaning on his heels before standing up normally again.

Asahi let his lips slide into a small smile, his worries slowly fading away. They didn't completely go away (they never will), but Nishinoya's attitude did a damn good job on distracting him.

"How can anyone forget a dashing man such as me?!", Nishinoya gave a small slap onto Asahi's cheek with one of his hands. Asahi flinched, "Ow!", he rubbed his slightly scarlet cheek, lips forming a small frown. "You hardly even look like one!", he teased Nishinoya. Nishinoya looked absolutely scandalized when he replied, "Tsk, tsk! _Dashing_ , Asahi! That's what's important!".

They stayed there for a few moments, with Nishinoya kept talking about how he was going to improve Rolling Thunder and Asahi listening every words that spills out from the libero's mouth. It did a great job on lifting the weight he had on his shoulders.

"Asahi, your hands are really sweaty.", Nishinoya complained. Nishinoya had been holding Asahi's hands for a while, and during that time Asahi's hands were still sweaty, although he already calmed down. Asahi gasped, cheeks turning pink, and quickly retracting his hands, "S-sorry! I just, uh, didn't, and—-". Just as quickly, Nishinoya snatched them back, effectively silencing Asahi.

When he looked into Asahi's eyes, he had this glint in his eyes that Asahi didn't acknowledge.

"I mean, yeah, it's really sweaty and kinda cold.", said Nishinoya as he rubbed his thumbs over the hard lines of Asahi's knuckles. Asahi felt his hand tensing, the gears of his mind working, trying to think of something as an excuse. "It's really gross.", the libero continued on as he entwined their hands together.

Asahi looked down at their hands. He realized how big his hands looked compared to Nishinoya's. He thought Nishinoya's hands would be soft and delicate, but they're actually slightly hard a bit rough on the edges, after years and years of playing volleyball. Asahi always thought his fingers were long, but next to Nishinoya's, they looked even longer. Nishinoya's hands also felt a little bit warmer, compared to his (probably because he was already cold sweating something that's worth 3 gallons).

"But,", Nishinoya's word shook him out of his chain of 'let's-just-admire-our-libero's-hands' thoughts. "That doesn't mean I'd let go.", the libero looked up at him with his trademark grin. Asahi could've sworn he heard the silent 'you' just before the 'go'. Asahi smiled in return, "Ah, um, thanks. Sorry for the sweaty—-". Before Asahi could finish his sentence, Nishinoya cut him off, "And geez, stop saying sorry for everything you do.". Nishinoya sighed, before tugging Asahi away from the sink towards the restroom's door.

* * *

They held hands all the way back to the court, ignoring the weird glances people gave them. Nishinoya was his usual, jumpy, full-of-energy self; dragging the flustered Asahi towards the court. It wasn't until Sugawara approached them, they let go. Nishinoya shouted some encouragement at Asahi that would've been _embarrassing_ , but somehow, he just couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed by it. Although, when Sugawara asked him about it, Asahi's cheeks quickly went pink, blush spreading until the tips of his ears.

* * *

During the game, Asahi could still feel the lingering warmness of Nishinoya's hands alongside the weight of the ball when he spiked, and that alone gave him the courage to fight on.

* * *

 **Author's note** : fic title is taken from a lyric from Woodkid's song, Brooklyn. IM SO SORRY IT'S SUPER LONG AND IT'S MOSTLY ASAHI CENTRIC WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ASANOYA PEPPERED AT THE END... aahahah anyway, if you have any suggestions for the some of the prompts, feel free to shoot me a message! I'll try to reply ASAP. thank you for reading!


	2. I Wanna Say to You

**Author's notes :** slay me asanoya has ruined my life. prepared to get diabetes. sorry for the late upload (reasons explained on the second a/n) and yeah since i'm late, i'm uploading this alongside the next few chapters. the prompt's cuddling! i'm not really all that great at writing fluff, honestly. so i'm just gonna fling this to the window lol

* * *

"Hey, Asahi."

Nishinoya's voice made him peer up from his math book. "What is it?", Asahi set his book down on the floor (he silently thanked Nishinoya in his head for bringing him out of the torture called advanced trigonometry), crawling towards where Nishinoya was sitting. "This one's a tough nut.", the libero looked absolutely puzzled by the question. "I mean, i tried substituting cos2x with 2cos^2 x - 1, but i really can't get further than that.", he sighed, picking up his half-melted popsicle from a small glass beside him. Asahi settled next to Nishinoya, and studied the problem the libero was facing. The ace then felt a sticky ( _sticky?_ ) hand on his thigh. It was Nishinoya's, sticky and a bit cold because of the melting popsicle. It felt uncomfortable, yeah, but it was _his_ hand. Asahi convinced himself that it was nothing.

They had agreed to study in Nishinoya's house (even though they were on different grades, but it wasn't Nishinoya's determination if said libero couldn't get what he wanted). Ennoshita would sometimes join them, but today he had to go home early due to some... Undisclosed reasons. Nishinoya didn't like to press into other people's problems anyway, so he let Nishinoya off the hook. The day was Thursday, and according to their 'schedule', they were supposed to be studying English. But Nishinoya decided for them to study math (with no particular reason). And Asahi, being Asahi, willingly followed.

Nishinoya had a particular love-hate relationship with the subject, loving it when he could experiment with all the different ways to solve a problem (although he didn't always nailed it, at least he had fun exploring it), but hating it when he had to do math tests (Nishinoya once protested, "The ones i have to solve in the tests are _always_ harder than the ones in the homework! It ain't fair!"). Nishinoya's math scores could be really good, or really bad. Even Ennoshita was surprised when he got A- in his trigonometry, knowing the fact that Nishinoya flunked his basic trigonometry test. Nishinoya wasn't an idiot in math, it was just he couldn't pay attention to the questions/problems long enough and go straight into trying to solve it, making up answers if he couldn't really get it in the first place; eager to move into the next question. He wouldn't even bother to recheck his answers, because he would just fall asleep after finishing his test.

Asahi, on the other hand, disliked maths (although not to the extent that he would abandon it under whatever reason, because he knew he'd need it sometime in the future). He would certainly study when a math test came up, and tried to get a good score. His math scores were never below the passing grade (well, _once_ , because he was late trying to get a cat down from a tree and the teacher thought he was doing something maleficent [again], and decided to cut off the time for his test), but they weren't too good either. They were just average, and Asahi was content with it. He was always patient with his answers (his mother told him besides practice, patience is the key to maths), trying out the things he remembered one by one until he felt like he found the right answer before moving to the next. Most of the answers were right, although the amount of time he consumed for it usually made him unable to finish them all.

"And i even tried all the way converting it into sin-something-x!", Nishinoya flopped onto his back, stretching his arms behind his head before using them as a pillow. "Hell, all these math problems are starting to give me a headache.", he groaned, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. Asahi chuckled, smiling down at the smaller boy. He turned his attention back to the book (Nishinoya's notebook wasn't as tidy as his, and it was full with doodles of what seemed to be baby crows on the edges; and Asahi thought it was kind of... _Endearing_ ), and with vigilant eyes, he scanned Nishinoya's work. It didn't take him long to find the problem. "Well, you _can_ move 4 into the right side. That should solve it.", explained Asahi while he scribbled some basic trigonometry stuff here and there, circling the parts where Nishinoya went wrong and providing him with the corrections. Asahi didn't write the answer to the problem, though. He wanted Nishinoya to be able to solve it himself, and Nishinoya wanted it, too.

He handed back the book to Nishinoya. Nishinoya took it, raising his hands above his head so he was able to read the corrections Asahi made. His brow furrowed at the corrections in red ink on the stark white paper. "Hmmh, Asahi, this is _boring._ ", complained Nishinoya, setting his book down on the floor next to him. "It was your suggestion.", replied Asahi, letting out a small exasperated noise.

Nishinoya grinned up at the ace, "I know! Asahi, come over here!". Nishinoya patted the empty spot on the flor next to him, "Lie down next to me.". Asahi looked at Nishinoya incredulously. Unsure of the request (although it sounded more like a _command_ ), Asahi asked, "W-what?". Instead of answering Asahi, Nishinoya only shot him a puzzled look.

Not receiving a reply, Asahi repeated his question. Nishinoya only replied with a single glance to empty spot next to him, before locking his eyes back to Asahi's ( _intense_ , was a word Asahi would choose to describe Nishinoya's gaze with). Asahi felt like he could tremble underneath Nishinoya's gaze, feeling like he had no choice but to comply. But then again, if he didn't, both him and Nishinoya would probably stop doing their math homework altogether.

Asahi decided that to comply to Nishinoya's request, would seem like the best viable option at the time.

Asahi laid down sideways next to Nishinoya, his back to Nishinoya's chest. Nishinoya laid down sideways, too; scooting up a bit so his head was on top of Asahi's. The small movement made Asahi's heart flutter in his ribcage, scarlet decorating his cheeks.

 _I've gone this far_ , his mind said. _Might as well do something about it._ Asahi leaned back, pressed his back against Nishinoya's chest even further, although not as much to make the other boy noticed. Asahi could feel Nishinoya's body tensing a bit before relaxing back to normal. Small thoughts of 'oh-shit' was flying around in his head, but Nishinoya didn't do anything. Nishinoya just stayed there.

The libero didn't seem to mind it at all.

He seemed to _appreciate_ it, even. Nishinoya let out a small content sigh at Asahi's decision. Unsure what to do with his fingers, Asahi fiddled with them instead, mentally counting down the number of small lines he had on them. With any other person, it might've been something _special_ , but this is Nishinoya, a libero with seemingly never-ending supply of energy and has no idea whatsoever about personal spaces. If someone were to hit a spike perfectly in their team, Nishinoya would rush from his place to hug said person, while Asahi would congratulate them from a distance. Asahi didn't mind people getting into his personal space, but Nishinoya's insistence to it started telling Asahi that this was _more_ than Nishinoya's usual overly-friendly physical contact. Asahi kept telling himself that it wasn't quite _it_ , but the thought was instilled in his brain already.

Seconds passed, and the air was screaming 'holy shit this is awkward', but neither of the two did anything about it. Asahi decided that (for once) he was going to be the one to break the ice.

"Noya, i don't see... How this would help, ah, your studying.", he let his hand linger on his thigh, dangerously close to Nishinoya's. "Asahi, i wanna tell you something.", Nishinoya said seriously, ignoring Asahi's statement. Asahi felt like his heart was going to burst out from his chest. Asahi gulped, "What is it?".

"You're like a big, soft, cuddly teddy bear!", Nishinoya cheered, nuzzling Asahi's hair, and Asahi could feel Nishinoya inhaling the scent of his shampoo and suddenly he was mentally asking himself if he had washed his hair today or not. He could smell the strawberry from Nishinoya's popsicle, mingling in with the scent of his shampoo (so he _did_ wash his hair today after all). He felt his heartbeat stuttering in his chest, feeling something weird in his gut... _Fondness?_ It was almost like ( _better than_ ) what he felt when he had his first puppy, looking into the round eyes that have barely seen the world.

Nishinoya's next sentence shook him out of his thoughts, "Kinda helps me calm down.", and somehow Asahi could feel him _grinning_ , Nishinoya's face stuffed with Asahi's hair. Nishinoya flung his arms around Asahi, squeezing his chest (one of his legendary bone crushing hugs, undoubtedly). Asahi could feel his cheeks getting warmer from the sudden contact (it wasn't like Nishinoya hadn't ever held him before, _but_ the current atmosphere just made it seem like so), replying in a weak voice, "Um, no problem..?". He could feel himself getting rigid, his body tensing, so he forced himself to relax. Nishinoya seemed to notice this, too (was there anything that could escape the libero's attention?), as he tightened his hold of Asahi a bit, hands straying to the front of Asahi's shirt, just _staying_ there, playing with the fabric of his shirt.

Minutes passed, and they've settled in comfortably. Or at least, Nishinoya was, because Asahi felt like he got cramps on his arms that he used to pillow his head. He _could_ just move a bit to stretch his arms, but then that would mean to wake Nishinoya up (Nishinoya was snoring, and Asahi couldn't help but think that it was so _adorable_ ). He had this intense internal debate, hating himself a little for not being able to make decisions quickly, because, hell, as more time pass, the cramps got worse.

Asahi stared at the blank spot on the walls, _I think i should move, but what if Noya wakes up?_. Nishinoya was peacefully snoring (Asahi's doubts _were_ right, this didn't help Nishinoya finish his studies _at all_ ) and it seemed like a little movement wouldn't wake him up. He could just move away from Nishinoya a little to flex his tired muscles, _or_ , he could wake Nishinoya up so they could continue their study (the point of the this... _thing_ , was to calm him down, was it not?). Asahi ignored the second option (Nishinoya would probably yell at him for waking him up before tackling him back down onto the floor), and proceeded with the first by moving away from Nishinoya a bit slowly, started to remove his back from Nishinoya's chest.

But it wasn't Nishinoya if he wasn't vigilant, saving blocked spikes, moving faster before the ball even knew where it was going to hit the floor. Asahi could feel Nishinoya's hands gripping the front of his t-shirt, and, _oh shit_ , he thought.

He was expecting tickles or something even more ridiculous from Nishinoya, but what came instead was Nishinoya's sleepy-slurred voice telling him, "Stay for a while.", his fingers digging into the Asahi's stomach and the fabric didn't help. At all. Asahi stared at the fingers clutching his t-shirt. They were small and seemed so _soft_ , and it was Nishinoya's.

He wonders about the forgotten strawberry popsicle that Nishinoya ate.

* * *

Asahi stayed, and they fell asleep, the two of them lying down next to their forgotten homework. When Asahi went home, he felt bad that none of them managed to finish their maths homework (although it wasn't entirely _his_ fault, to begin with). And the teacher would probably scold him the next day, and he would have to either just chug it in or make up an excuse to avoid it.

But he remembered the fingers that were clutching him, the nose that was buried in his mess of a hair, the legs that wrapped around his thigh; and it felt like it was definitely worth it.

* * *

 **Author's note :** im sorry im dumb lel this probably doesnt even count as cuddling but fUCK IT. sORRY FOR THE DELAY i was really busy with school ughghgh anyway, title taken from STRFKR's Say to You. this one is super horrible i promise i'd make it up in the next one...


	3. DESYNCHRONIZED

**Author's note :** im an asscreed trash and no matter what fandom im in ill always have my character play asscreed. also featuring three other games but whatever. Trying out with present tense for this one idk i just kinda wanna try lel

* * *

Nishinoya convinces himself that this is only Asahi's initial reaction to playing this game. The giant'll manage, he'll learn what he has to do, he'll understand. He will.

Who is he kidding. Asahi doesn't even have the guts to hit the square button to punch the templars square on the face.

"Come on! It's called Assassin's Creed II, dammit.", Nishinoya blankly stares at the screen, before glancing back at Asahi to see him fiddling with the joystick. " _Assassin_.", he repeats the word for emphasis, squinting at Asahi in mock disappointment. The hero only runs around and throws out money (Nishinoya already reminds Asahi that the latter is meant to _distract_ the civilians, but Asahi thinks otherwise) in a particularly poor district of Rome.

"But i don't want to kill him!", the ace retorts, making the hero run around on the rooftops instead of diving down to stab his target on the neck. "I'm sure he's just...", Asahi pauses in search of a word, and Nishinoya's mind supplies him with 'a guy you have to kill otherwise we won't be able to finish the fucking game'. Asahi perks up a bit, "Ah, misunderstood.", he continues, eyeing at a small treasure chest in a small terrace, going way out of the mission area. Nishinoya gives out an exasperated sigh at it.

Nishinoya grabs the joystick from Asahi's hands, and he swears to himself that this is the last time he'll ever let Asahi play Assassin's Creed.

* * *

Who the hell even plays flappy bird anymore? _Who?_ That game is a monstrosity on its own, and that level of horror is doubled with the fact that Asahi plays it. And holy shit, he's good at it.

Not just 'good', he's a fucking _beast_ in this dumbass game.

Nishinoya sees Asahi playing it during their volleyball practice break, and he figures it's only a one time thing (because flappy bird seems like a one-time game to everyone, a bit fun at first and then you hit one of those god forsaken pipes and it sends you fuming with anger and disrupts the flow in your brain), something for his hands to play with or something to take off the stress a bit. He asks if it's Asahi's first time playing the game, and Asahi politely replies yes, his eyes practically glued to the glowing screen. Asahi reaches the 10 points mark, and Nishinoya tells him that he's gonna give up sooner or later, and he's lucky if he doesn't throw his phone in frustration (in which, Tanaka definitely did in his second try).

Minutes passed by and, shit, he's _still in the game_. He hasn't lost yet, and the numbers tells Nishinoya that Asahi has passed the 50 points mark. _Holy shit,_ he thinks, _no one is supposed to be this good in their first try._

Asahi keeps going on until the break was over, and Nishinoya honestly doesn't keep an eye on how much Asahi scored (he fully remembers that he couldn't go past 10 in his first try). At least, that's what he tells himself, when he actually peeks over Asahi's shoulder to look at his score.

Coach Ukai has already blew his whistle, meaning the break's over, and Asahi only lost because he has to return back to volleyball practice. Later, Nishinoya tells (the word ' _accuses'_ seems to be far more suitable) Asahi that it's not his first time playing, and if it is, he should play volleyball with the same amount of concentration and dedication in that game. Tanaka chuckles from the other side of the court, and Kageyama scowls in response.

Asahi misses a toss from Sugawara, and the next one. And also the next one.

* * *

Nishinoya manages to convince Asahi to play Dragon Age Inquisition by turning the blood / gore option off in the settings, and also telling him that he doesn't actually _kill_ the enemies, he's just redeeming them from... Some fucked up shit. (Probably) (No, it's absolute boogus, but Asahi's buying it, so he counts it as a win)

This breaks the record for the longest time Asahi plays a video game (and to think that video game is Dragon Age Inquisition, just makes Nishinoya feel even more proud of himself). It's a huge progress compared to the time he made Asahi play Assassin's Creed II, and Nishinoya allows himself a self-congratulatory pat on his back. Asahi still backs down from some battles and decides to run away ("I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.", Asahi mumbled as he tried to find a way to evade the Nightmare monster, but they both knew it was a boss battle, and there was no escape; Asahi really didn't sleep, that night), but, hey, there's progress in Asahi's video gaming 'career' and that's what counts.

Asahi absolutely likes the character Cole, and he brings it into each and every one of his missions, chatting up Cole every time his qunari (Nishinoya figures that a qunari is equivalent to an Asahi, so he made Asahi's character into one) comes back to Skyhold to modify his armor or check up the advisors' progress on the war table. He goes through Cole's personal missions quickly (which is a tremendous progress, considering Asahi couldn't even bring himself to punch a templar in Assassin's Creed II). And then he arrives at the decision. _The_ decision.

It's been almost three minutes, and Asahi is still considering both options. Nishinoya groans, "Make up your mind already!", he threw a pillow at Asahi's head. It hit its mark without any particular effect. "I don't want him to suffer, Noya!", the taller boy retorts, hand motioning towards the two options on the screen. "If i make him human, people'll remember him, but he'll also feel personal grief. ", Asahi chewed on his bottom lip (Nishinoya tries not to think that it's _cute_ ). "If he forgives him, he'll be back into a spirit and no one'll remember him.", he continues as he fiddled with the analog, moving over the choices back and forth.

"Him being a spirit wasn't a problem.", Nishinoya tells him before eating his popsicles. Asahi moved his analog to go over the option to tell Cole to forgive the templars. He pauses for a moment before moving his choice back into the _other_ option, "True, but i think he always wanted to know what it feels like to be a human again...".

Nishinoya's pretty sure, Solas and Varric are being extremely patient waiting for Asahi's decision, judging him through the screen. If they're real, they'd probably yell at Asahi to just _hurry the fuck up_ , and Nishinoya feel he's going to go bald faster than Asahi can make his choice.

"Just find out which one has more plus and coolness?", Nishinoya suggest whilst opening google chrome in his phone. Asahi looks at Nishinoya's phone for a moment, before looking back at Cole, then looking back at Nishinoya again and nods.

They look up the pros and cons in the Dragon Age Wikia ("Pathetic. You're an idiot if you open the wikia. It takes away the, ah, what's it called... 'Fun', from video games.", he remembers Tsukishima saying when he asks about where to get the best knives in Dragon Age, snickering while he did with his shit-eating grin).

There aren't any actual pros or cons to letting Cole kill the templar or advising him to forgive the templar through Solas, and Nishinoya finds himself waiting for the next fifteen minutes before Asahi finally lets Cole kill try to kill the templar (and failing, Asahi silently thanks Bioware) because he accidentally tapped X while hovering over the second option.

* * *

 **Author's note :** yeah ok i played dai and cole is adorable (sweet rabbit child uahsdhasjkdh), though i don't really feel that much of him, i'm pretty sure asahi does. like, 1000000000000% sure.


	4. Worst Decision in His Life

**Author's note** : can u imagine them going to the zoo? well i can and it's ridiculous. today's prompt is going on a date, so hell yeah! this one is super short ahaha im sorry about that but i really can't think of anything ?

* * *

Going to the zoo with Nishinoya was probably the worst decision Asahi ever made in his life.

The animal was _big_ (horrendously long, Asahi was pretty sure it's probably over 6 feet in length itself), with brown scales and darker ones alongside it forming an intricate pattern. Its tongue was teasing him with a promise to kill (or at least, that's what the ace thought). Asahi knew that animal could kill an average human adult under two minutes, and it would be a painful, terrible, _terrible_ death. Yet, Yuu Nishinoya lifted the animal with ease (God knows, it might weigh even _more_ than the boy himself), letting its body drape around his shoulders.

Nishinoya stroked the snake's skin, smiling at the weird feeling he got on his fingers. "Asahi, Asahi!", one of his arm flailed, and Asahi noticed that, yes, but his eyes were more focused on the phyton swung around Nishinoya's shoulders (Asahi could've sworn that the snakes eyes were locked onto him like he was his meal, and that made Asahi shiver). Nishinoya made a motion that was a sign to Asahi to take a picture. Asahi nodded, moving closer to Nishinoya (silently calculating how far away he should be from the snake in order to escape unscathed in case any bad shit happens), whipping out his phone.

He snapped a few photos of Nishinoya and the snake, before the man that Asahi assumed is the snake keeper approached him. "You wanna try holding them?", the man held out his hand with an even _larger_ snake circling his arms. Asahi turned to look at Nishinoya, asking him to tell the man an excuse with his eyes, _anything_ to avoid holding that snake. Instead, Nishinoya looked like he was absolutely filled with glee and was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Yeah! Yeah! Asahi, let's take a photo together!", he cheered. The man looked absolutely unfazed, raising an eyebrow in question. Asahi could only stare at the green boa in horror before Nishinoya taunted him, "Aw, maybe not. Your glass heart might break.".

The snake was slithering, absolutely _mocking_ him. Asahi may be a scaredy cat, but he was not one to back out from a challenge. Sometimes (okay, maybe 1/5 of the time).

"O - okay.", he mentally kicked himself for stumbling over a simple word. The man grinned, extending his hands even further. Asahi, unsure what to do, just held out his arms, his phone in one of his (when did it start being so goddamn sweaty?) hands. The snake slowly made its way to Asahi's arm, and Asahi let out a small squeak in surprise. He could feel the snake's scales on his skin, and it felt weird and _tingly_ and just, so weird. He could hear Nishinoya snicker in the background when the man took his phone to take a photo of them. The snake keeper straightened his cap as he went and stood a few meters in front of Nishinoya.

Asahi made his way to the empty spot next to Nishinoya, trying to pose as best as he could with a goddamn green boa (shit, the snake was _heavier_ than he expected it to be, and it would probably take this creature three minutes to kill him, if he was lucky) tangled on his arms. He wondered how Nishinoya still managed to put on his signature grin, while Asahi could only muster a weak smile.

When the man said one, Asahi felt like he could die of a heart attack right then and there and Nishinoya would have to pay for his funeral and apologize to his dead body for asking him out to the zoo and deciding to take a fucking picture with _snakes_.

When the man said two, he was pretty sure the snake's grip on him was more firm than before.

When the man said three, he could feel the snake's scaly skin on his short sleeve without even looking, and he could feel its tongue once on the fabric.

When the shutter of his phone camera snapped, he absolutely did not let out a shriek when the snake moved to his shoulder.

Asahi congratulated himself that he managed to make it out _alive_ and somehow, still with his dignity attached.

* * *

 **Author's note :** tbh i kinda like this one bc i can really imagine noya being all "hOLY SHIT ASAHI LOOK LOOK" and asahi is just screaming internally "noya no no no that thing could kill you in under two minutes nOYA S TO P"


	5. Vanilla

**Author's note :** is it cheating if i put a kissing meme inside a 30 day otp challenge? idk i guess two birds with one stone. the prompt was 'kissing' anyway, and i kinda wanna experiment with it i guess. these things are kinda sad ahaha sorry... (but i promise they're not all sad!) trigger warning for self harm.

* * *

Nishinoya's hands were cupping his cheeks, one of them straying to tuck a sliver of Asahi's brown locks back behind his ears. Asahi lowered his head, hair covering his face, rendering Nishinoya's action useless. Nishinoya caught a glint of Asahi's face. He saw tracks of dried tears on Asahi's face. He saw how _glossy_ Asahi's honey-brown eyes were, tears threatening to spill if he blinked as much as once. Asahi looked like a mess, and the most miserable part wasn't seing him like this. The most miserable part was that Nishinoya knew that he couldn't do anything about it.

Yeah, maybe he couldn't do anything to change what happened, but he could try to guide Asahi through the aftermath.

He kissed Asahi's nose, and Asahi's eyes shot open as soon as he leaned back. Nishinoya let his lips slid into a weak smile, hoping that Asahi would mirror it (he didn't). He kissed Asahi's eyes, the tears tasting like salt and it reminded him of the sea he used to play in as a kid. The waves would try to drown him, crush him under its mighty weight, dragging Nishinoya away from where he was supposed to be.

Images flooded his mind, but this time, he saw Asahi getting dragged away, going further and further away until all he could see was only the vast blue sea.

Nishinoya wished that he could rescue Asahi, stopped him from drowning, get him back up to the ground. But, hell, even he wasn't fast enough.

He kissed Asahi's forehead as a silent apology, and Asahi's shoulders started to shake in heavy, heaving sobs. Nishinoya held him through it, kissing the dried tears on his face, his nose, his eyelids, his forehead, and back up all over again; whilst squeezing Asahi's hands.

He stayed until it was over, until one of them had regained their ability to speak.

* * *

When they were walking to school together, Asahi noticed something... _Different_ , about Nishinoya.

Nishinoya's knuckles were covered in various shades of red and blue, some purple mixed in between them, forming a weird pattern Asahi couldn't place. Small cuts here and there, some of them were still fresh and red. Those cuts would turn into scars, that would stay and linger long after the bruises fade away. Nishinoya's skin were pale, so _pale_ , that those 'decorations' stood out whenever his hand showed up.

When Asahi held his hand, Nishinoya cringed a little. He knew it hurt, he knew Nishinoya tried to hide it, with his smile that seemed to light up something inside his chest, with his touches and small kisses on his cheeks that seemed to do something; something that seemed to be a mixture of awfully weird and satisfying, in his stomach.

When he let go of Nishinoya's hand, his eyes were still glued onto them. Nishinoya talked about how his Rolling Thunder Again had improved, how Tanaka smashed his phone because of flappy bird, and how Daichi rejected a girl that proclaimed her love to him last week. It seemed so out of place, Asahi thought. He then figured, he was purposefully trying to _distract_ Asahi.

When he asked what happened, Nishinoya smile faltered as quickly as it slid back into place. Nishinoya shrugged it off, telling him that it was nothing, it was just some ridiculously violent senior blocking his way to school.

Asahi somehow knew that wasn't the case.

Asahi stopped walking, and Nishinoya did, too. The ace leaned down a little and held Nishinoya's hand to his own face, brushing his mouth over the bruised knuckles. Nishinoya visibly tensed, looking up at Asahi with his lips pressed into a thin line, curving downwards slightly on the edges. Asahi didn't answer his gaze, not verbally, at least. He kissed Nishinoya's hands once more, before telling Nishinoya that Asahi would always be there, whenever he needed anything. Nishinoya kept his gaze locked into Asahi's eyes, and Asahi looked away, feeling his cheeks getting a little bit warmer in a way that only Nishinoya could ever make him feel.

Nishinoya smiled up at him before thanking him in a small, shaky voice; one that made Asahi want to just stay there and hold Nishinoya there until he felt better. Nishinoya slapped his own forehead with his free hand, saying that it was ridiculous how he could lose his cool in front of someone like Asahi. Nishinoya leaned towards Asahi on his tiptoes, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Asahi visibly blushed into a deeper shade of red, and Nishinoya did, too. Asahi looked at the ground while mumbling something, and Nishinoya just smiled at him like it was nothing, though the blush on his cheeks proved otherwise.

Nishinoya was gripping Asahi's hand tighter before they resumed walking towards school grounds once more. They walked with Nishinoya telling him about how Sugawara taught him how to set while in the air and Asahi listening.

* * *

Asahi liked it when Nishinoya kissed his neck, with the intent and _hunger_ that left him almost powerless.

He liked it when Nishinoya's hands sift through his hair, pulling on it a little, his mouth trailing over to Asahi's neck to leave marks that would linger until the next volleyball practice (thus, he had to think of a reason to explain the origins of the small bruises on his neck).

When Nishinoya's teeth sunk onto his flesh, he had never felt more _alive_. Like an apology, Nishinoya always brushed his lips against each and every marks he made on Asahi's neck. He would lick the salty sweat on Asahi's neck, sometimes going back to mouthing the marks he made on the ace's skin. He would say things like, 'you're cute', 'you're blushing! awww', 'you taste so good', right next to his ear, and Asahi's cheeks would blush into a shade of a fully ripe tomato.

Sometimes, when they just lie down on his bed together, Nishinoya would just kiss his neck. Not even sucking, just quietly placing his lips on the spots that he knew were sensitive to Asahi. And Asahi would let out this shaky breath, letting out a small noise of approval once in a while. These things kept Nishinoya going on and on, kissing Asahi's neck until Asahi felt extremely sore on the neck for craning his head so long.

* * *

The first time they kissed, Asahi's mouth tasted like the ice cream he just ate. He tasted like vanilla, and their first kiss was just like that. Well, after they got their tempo right.

When he leaned over to place his lips on Asahi's, their nose bumped. Nishinoya laughed, while Asahi looked absolutely _terrified_ that he just ruined their first kiss. Nishinoya placed his hand behind Asahi's head, leaning back onto Asahi to kiss him properly.

(Not really)

Their teeth bumped and clacked, tongue coming out in appropriate times. It should be hilarious, it should be _horrible_ , but he was kissing _Asahi_. The only guy who could make him smile grow impossibly wider. The only one who could make his heart feel like they're ready to bounce out of his chest and skin feeling like they were on fire, only because of small fleeting touches. (and as soon as they were gone, he wanted those hands to be back on his skin again, again, and again)

Asahi's lips were a bit chapped, but they were softer than Nishinoya had imagined. They kept going, until they found their own pace. It was sweet and calming, not too fast or too slow; and it vaguely reminded him of the ice cream Asahi ate.

He kissed Asahi's lips over and over until the taste of vanilla disappeared from his tongue.

* * *

 **Author's note :** bye i suck at making chars kiss... this one turned out longer than i expected it to be lol if you're wondering why I'm uploading a lot of chapters today, see the update blog! u3u


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